'70 years of friendship': Preston welcomes twin town Recklinghausen for anniversary visit
Residents of Recklinghausen, Germany are today jetting in for a reunion with members of the City Council, as the two towns celebrate 70 years of being twinned.
A Platinum anniversary is always an event worth celebrating - and while it’s not strictly the same between two twin towns, that hasn’t stopped Preston from pulling out all the stops.
This weekend, Preston is set to host a family get-together for its twin siblings from Germany, who are today (Friday) jetting in for a reunion with members of the City Council.
A civic event at The Harris today will welcome students, dignitaries, and musicians from Recklinghausen, west Germany.
Meanwhile, a sold-out concert tomorrow will see the Preston Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the City of Recklinghausen (Jugendsinfonieorchester der Stadt Recklinghausen) join together for ‘Two Cities, One Symphony’.
Recklinghausen and Preston have been twinned since 1956, as a gesture of unity after the Second World War.
They were one of the first examples of British-German town twinning after the war, and what began as a ‘gesture of reconciliation’ has since blossomed into a strong cultural bond between the two towns.
And though tickets to this weekend’s performance are already sold-out, Preston mayor Naweeda Khan has already said she is looking forward “to many more years of friendship between Preston and Recklinghausen”.
"We are delighted to welcome our friends from Recklinghausen to Preston as we celebrate 70 years of friendship between our two cities,”
“Our twinning relationship is something we are incredibly proud of, built on shared values that continue to grow across generations.
"Both the event at The Harris and concert at Guild Hall Atrium will be a wonderful celebration of that partnership, bringing people together through music and culture.
“It is a fitting way to mark this important anniversary and to look ahead to many more years of friendship between Preston and Recklinghausen."
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Mayor of Recklinghausen, Axel Tschersich, said: "I am thrilled about this joint concert by the Preston Symphony Orchestra and the Recklinghausen Youth Symphony Orchestra.
“It is a special symbol of our vibrant town twinning and our shared future.
"Music is a wonderful language for this: it brings people together across all borders, languages and generations.
“Shared experiences such as this will be remembered for a long time and this is what makes, our twinning partnership real and meaningful.
“We look forward to many more encounters for our town twinning in the years to come."